“Our finding that suicide now accounts for more deaths than do traffic crashes echoes similar findings for the European Union, Canada, and China,” researchers wrote.

Those researchers found that while the number car fatalities decreased by 25 percent from 2000 through 2009, cases of suicide rose 15 percent over that same amount of time. The top five causes of injury-related death from 2000 through 2009 were suicide, car crashes, unintentional poisoning, accidental falls and homicide in that order.

Researchers found that deaths caused by accidental poisoning and falls increased over the decade by 128 percent and 71 percent, respectively. They credited that alarming increase of poisoning deaths to the recent rise in prescription drug overdoses.

According to a 2008 study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 32,000 people commit suicide each year in the U.S. It is the third-leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 24 and the second-leading cause for people ages 25 to 34.

I know all to well what it’s like to feel alone, depressed and filled with self-loathing. It’s tough, but if you have any suicidal feelings, don’t be afraid to talk to somebody. People are there for you, and it does get better.